Catching Up With the Dog and Pony Show (Perfection and Jail Time)

Inexplicably at Christmas dinner, my sister Beatrice turns to me and remarks, "Jules! He is the PERFECT dog!" I agree wholeheartedly as he is my dog and I am seriously biased but coming from Beatrice? Before I could remind her of Jules delightful penchant for jumping up enthusiastically on visitors to our house or his charming urge to occasionally shove his nose deep into people's crotches, Beatrice and her partner John wax eloquent about how cute he is and how smart and how he loves to chase balls in the backyard... and did they neglect to say he's perfect? Well, there's the little dickens above. I was attempting to procure a "handsome" photo to  illustrate canine perfection, but instead I got the crazy, snarling "let's chew on the photographers leg" doggie that I know so well. (But he is perfect.)
And Maggie? I haven't posted about our Dog and Pony Show for quite a while as I've been preoccupied with the lord's work (that would be self promotion in regards to show in NYC and other seasonal sundries...) But Maggie, far from being perfect is temporarily in prison.

Looks guilty, doesn't she? Last Friday, the very day after Christmas when I was trying to finish baking yet another batch of cookies to take to a good friend's annual Boxing Day celebration, I spied a large dark shape over by our neighbor's driveway. As I didn't have my contact lens in, I could detect that it was moving and while the shape was somehow familiar, it was in an unfamiliar location so it took several seconds for me to process, "Hello! It's the horse!" I sprinted outside, despite having cookies abake in the oven, calculating that a burned batch of cookies was less dangerous than a large hoofed mammal on the loose. Maggie seemed pleased to see me and followed without any ado back to her confines, me all the while thinking how we'd probably have to repair some major break in the fence. But what I see is that Maggie has simply pushed her way through the small gate (as I neglected to pull the extra latch down), made a stop at the hay barn to break open a fresh bale of hay and then proceeded onto the neighbor's yard. I guess she was sampling the new batch of bales we had picked up early that morning and then decided to take a stroll. Funny how they figure things out!

T'was the Night Before Xmas

Aren't these delightful gingerbread men? Emphasis on men as they come equipped to deliver holiday joy. And they tasted great, too! Thanks to a good friend for providing seasonal fun. We did have a fine and silly time last night.
And boy did I need it! Everything in preparation for my show in New York at Odetta Gallery has been going really well, except that for some truly incomprehensible reason, I have not been able to get good photos of several of my pieces. My good friend Ellen (who runs Odetta) even remarked. "Isn't this what you do for a living?" I suffered an extreme lapse of confidence on that and even went to work on Monday and Tuesday certain that I'd be unable to take a decent picture ever again and lose my job. So, chalk it up to my not simply making paintings, but working in peculiar mixtures of plastic, fabric, chains, and everything that has different textures and reflectiveness. Yeeesh. What a friggin' nightmare! I work in the middle of the night, thinking how I'd never become a famous and respected artist because I couldn't get a decent picture. My images had gone from bad to worse, with wonky color discrepancies and uneven lighting. Fortunately, another good friend is coming over to assist in the documentation department on Sunday...

I got so crazy the other night when I was having to try and photograph (for the 6oth time!) along with baking two batches of cookies for our Holiday Cookie Swap (otherwise known as the grease and sugar exchange) at work, that I started hallucinating. I even saw a face on the lemon I was zesting for sugar cookies. It looks sort of like the Man in the Moon.
Anyway, Bob and I have decided to purchase a new bed in lieu of giving each other Christmas presents. At least we'll enter the New Year with better prospects for sleep!

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things

OOps! That's not the tree, but a thoroughly goofy present from a good friend from several years back... but they do get us in the mood for Xmas and all things Xmas-ian...
Like the fabled tree. We do all remember that for the past several years I have been drumming into people's minds (with the infernal Little Drummer Boy beating accompaniment) that the two things necessary for celebrating Christmas are 1.) the Tree and #2.) Cookies.
Here's the first:

All ready to go! Purchased at Home Depot just two nights ago with an accommodating Home Depot employee tearing a tag off a lower priced tree and slapping it on a higher priced tree for us after Bob accused the guy of not wanting to help us out. Way to go, Bob! Always saying that the squeaky wheel gets the grease... Looks great all trimmed and lit. (I always remember the year that a certain relative never decorated their tree and the nude tree just sat in one corner of the room for a couple of weeks. You know who you are!) Kind of like this before photo:

Nothing wrong with this, but it does look naked! Here's the table before the clutter was cleared and the decorations were carefully hung:

That's a fun sort of mess. But we had to clear a path for Bob and I to address Christmas cards. We made a ton of them the other night and now have to say clever things and lick envelopes. You'd think that Jules the Dog would be good at that, but he seems indifferent, despite wearing a respectable amount of glitter on his head. I like these activities. They serve to offset the dark and cold of this time of year. Next, I hit the kitchen to make cookies, and eat too much dough.

Hoarder Junior

I was reading a story in the most recent New Yorker about how hoarding is now officially considered a disorder. There was a picture of Little Edie (from "Grey Gardens" fame) and I paused for a moment, reflecting that the piles surrounding her looked, well, sort of familiar. I realized that my studio annex, a work in progress!, could have fit right in to their decorating scheme!
Here's athe view in the opposite direction, walking from my studio back into the house:

Even the sliding piles of effluvium rivals Little Edies! I don't think of myself as a hoarder... just an artist with a penchant for collecting stuff that might be someday made into wonderful and profound artwork. And in my own defense, I have been so busy making art that I simply haven't had the time to move all my studio furniture (like ugly dressers full of materials and tall shelving units) in to the space so as to permit me to better organize. Give an artist a break!

And here's what I did the other morning: emptied a whole wall unit onto the dining table. Then, of course, I realized that the table was now full of my stuff* and I had no place to work while waiting for my studio to warm up. So I spent the next half hour trundling the above collection down the hall and into the studio. I got quite warm doing all that schleppping!
I know I will receive no sympathy on this argument. I can hear the voices clucking and tsking about mental disorders and crazy behaviors. (And hey! Come to think of it, I just admitted to hearing voices! Never a good sign!) So the Studio Annex is a mess but the work for my New York show is looking really great. Big messes and hoarding proclivities be damned!

*And the above table top assortment featured important stuff like pre-chewed gum, several air line barf bags (not used), old band aids, about a hundred of those little white plastic stoppers that come in the top of milk container spouts... I guess you get the idea. Art supplies!

New Computer...

And it's about time! I bet all the philistines among you thought I had simply abandoned blogging as so many before me. But no! I am not that easy to get rid of. Almost a month ago now, our computer gave up the ghost. Bob went to turn it on and was greeted by a stony faced black screen. The timing was, of course, the absolute worst in history. I was just finishing installing my work "Better Guns and Gardens" at Artspace and there were images to send and artists statements to email for that show and my upcoming inclusion at Odetta Gallery. I was frantically uploading and sending off requested info from friend's computers during dinner parties and from work. A nightmare!(I am not even going to hint at how much unbacked up stuff we have sealed in that hard drive; we are going to have to pay for date transfer...) The good news is that we have a delightful new computer that has oodles of giga everything and we don't even seem to be upset with Windows 8. Yes, there are swirly, squirrely screens that flicker past at light speed and all manner of needless shopping apps but it's not THAT bad! I was worried.
And above, testimony to all the hard work I've been doing in preparation for that NEXT show at Odetta Gallery in Brooklyn. The studio is warm, wonderful and workable thanks to:

Remember "Yodel"? Yes, Yodel the Woodstove is now installed, thanks to Bob and our good friend Joe. They Saws-alled a hole in the studio roof and put in the new pipe. It works great and just in time; as I was finishing my book project, the weather started to get cold and I had begun to work in the living room (old studio) for a time. The studio heats up in no time and I couldn't be happier- or toastier!
But here's the pain side of all this work:

Kind of gross, all the splits and needle stabs I'm enduring. I jabbed a needle like 1/2" into this awful open bleeding thumb crevasse and then danced a mighty jig to stop from screaming. That really hurt. I guess that the down side to having a show in which all the pieces are sewn. But the work looks great and I plunge on wards, fighting through that old agony and ecstasy...
One more picture for good measure as I'm pleased as proverbial punch to be up and blogging again:

Dead flowers! A fitting last bouquet, plucked just before the cold weather began in earnest. Lovely perennial chrysanthemums from friend Bob. Well, they were lovely before they dried out, but they persist in our bathroom as a remembrance of this recently departed last gardening season. Only funny thing here is that I didn't take  picture of the new computer. Maybe next posting.

Some of Rita's Musings on Artists Books

Here's an image from "Better Guns and Gardens", my artists book of the hour as the show at Artspace, CT (Un) Bound opens tonight! This has led to a loose collection of thoughts about artists books. We were walked through the show at Artspace and an associated show of artists books at Yale. Certain themes spring to mind while considering the realm of artists books...
First is that my books don't really resemble many of the other artists books. Many artists books are "one offs" as in so-called altered books (taking a pre-existing volume and manipulating it, often through carving into it or shredding it), or high end, fine letter press type set books that seem to want to lovingly replicate earlier volumes, or "books" made out of ropes or glass or conceptual materials. Many artists books seem to exist as single idea repositories- like the book that has wheels and looks like a model car. Or the book that has a bolt and a lock through it. Many don't even have pages.
Of the books that have multiple pages, many are shown only open to a single double page spread and remain that way until a curator or museum official comes through, dons gloves and turns it to another page. Almost all the books- single ideas, cut, sliced, riced and diced reside in vitrines where you can look, but not touch.
Herein lies one of my issues (and you knew I had to have one or two!). These books lie there, shrouded under glass or plexi, like so many patients in isolation or premature infants in incubators. They're like invalids that require oxygen and sterile conditions to live. (And in the off chance that you can handle the book, you are required to wear white gloves to protect the book from your grubby mitts.)  I find this peculiar, off putting and very contradictory.

Books, by their very definition (except those made by solitary monks in sequestered monasteries) are democratic. They're relatively cheap, mass produced and available. This is what makes knowledge accessible and dangerous. Even artists books seem more comfortable existing in editions- however small. They are meant to be picked up, poured over and handled. You really can't do this with any other art form. Paintings, drawings, sculptures are all on pedestals and in frames and your eyes can walk over them and you can physically move around them but you don't pick them up. They're not portable (generally speaking!).
Artists books, on the other hand call out to be fondled. I was the only artist at the show yesterday who's work was made to be picked up and groped. We all stood looking longingly at several of the books housed in glass sarcophagus, and collectively sighed how nice it would be to see the next page. But you can't... I understand why this is not always practical (too much finger dirt, people sneezing and oozing on the page) but it's unfortunate. We all know the artist handled their own books- without those white gloves- and passed it around at parties to their friends. But once collected, most artists books are doomed to an early death.
Here's where I step in. All of my books are made of indestructible materials like plastic and packing tape. Drooled on the book? Wipe it clean! Tore a page? Stick another piece of tape on it! And the fact that they're most often laser and photo copied at a large copy center only makes them more affordable. I say, bring on the man and woman handle-able artist book!

Justice and Other Niceties

Well, for all those that worried that I'd do hard time for breaking the speed of sound on my way to work, no fear! justice has been done and my ticket was reduced to a mere $35 infraction. My day in court was something of a anticlimax as it resembled a deli line more than courtroom drama. We all sort of shuffled along on hard wooden benches, but were processed really fast- like so fast that no one really even wanted to look at my splendid photo  documentation of the scene of the crime. (As seen above: evidence!) Bob and I did make sure and get a parking ticket while in the court house attending to the primary crime. How were we supposed to know that you put the parking ticket received from the kiosk on the dash board? I thought they had magic space sensors.
At least that (non) drama is behind me and I can concentrate on finishing up all the details accompanying my debut of Better Guns and Gardens this Friday at Artspace. I was lucky today and despite the blustery frigid wind, I managed to get everything on my art shopping list. And I further scored large by finding a wonderful ensemble to wear to my opening! Yet another source of stress alleviated!
I am really looking forward to the culmination of ages and ages of hard work. Many of the spills and chills were provided by Staples in the form of stupid mistakes in printing my work. And these are the "professionals" that we're supposed to trust and rely on! Hahahaha. Time is short and there'd better not be any more unforeseen snafus.
Here's a picture of the evite. I certainly hope all my adoring public will be in attendance!

For some reason, I think it's funny that it's green! But hey! Who cares what color the announcement is? It's going to be a great show and it's up until the very end of January.

Tricks and Treats

Halloween is upon us and that means my court date draws nigh! Wish me luck on my Day in Court, auspiciously falling on Halloween. It was most recently recommended that I go wearing stripes (in an allusion to prison togs), and the costume I have selected for my court appearance is pinstripe (to subtly echo a lawyer's garb). The above is what I wore to a garden center that offered a further 10% discount to any shopper wearing a costume. I was wearing my riding jodhpurs and boots and brandishing a riding crop. I was the only nursery shopper at that time to be outfitted thusly, but it was worth it as Bob and I brought home a couple of real nursery bargains!

 

I guess everyday is Halloween around here and things just keep getting scarier. My book project that has been occupying my almost every waking hour is being installed (by me and Bob) on Wednesday and I have a couple of million details to complete between now and then. Here's a tease; a page from my book... this one is being printed up as a poster. I have to pick it up from Staples tomorrow, and after the last printing debacle, I shudder to think what they'll have done to this image!

But details? Was I mentioning details? Oy! I keep making lists and revising them but it is all coming together... Now I have to figure out what to wear to my opening. I suppose I could go in costume!

Just Plain Gross and And a Waste of Time

Okay, so here's one gross thing but not THE gross thing about my walk. I submit the above picture of a very dead little mouse which may be gross but listen to this: I set off on my morning walk with Jules and as I didn't need to go to work or any where particular, we took a rather longer walk than usual. Now I've railing about the slobs and assholes who dump their old building materials and ugly chairs along the dirt road where I walk, but today's offering took the cake. I spied a white thing in the road, and as I approached closer, I pulled Jules in tighter to me as it appeared that the white thing was a rather large pair of men's Fruit of the Loom underpants. But not only did some idiot see fit to leave dirty laundry laying around in the road, but they were copiously soiled with evil looking diarrhea. (I guess I have to ask if there's any other kind). All I can think of is "Ebola!" Boy, did that ruin the atmosphere of a lovely pre-storm walk! (You're all just lucky that didn't have my camera.)
That was the gross; here's the waste of time. (Haven't I recently been haranguing that i have many things to accomplish and and I'm very short of time? I sound like a broken record.) I am having my book, Better Guns and Gardens produced, and for many reasons ( and people can have their opinions...) I am printing the first batch at Staples. I actually went out of my way to the next town over as the do the production of the book binding there, and the poor over worked young man at our local Staples seemed less than informed about how they do them and said they sent them out anyway. The young man at the New Milford Staples had examples, seemed involved and even listened to my tale of woe as to how their competitor (OfficeMax) made a mess out of one of my previous books (printed and collated upside down backwards etc). He assured me that this wouldn't happen; they'd be extra careful. What could possibly go wrong?

I picked up the single test copy that i had ordered and was pleased; it really looked great. I therefore ordered up four more, and left work early to go over to pick them up. The cover looked fine and a part of me thought, Better be safe and check them out." It's a good thing I opened them up and systematically paged through because the insides were a disaster. And as I pointed out to the young woman at the copy center, not only were the files in order (like pages 1, 2, 3 and on) but the pages were numbered in the book. It was like they collated them with their eyes closed. I was so distraught that I spoke with a manager, who was properly horrified and apologized by saying they'd redo them and give me a fifth one free.
I returned, not getting my hopes up as I've learned that once something gets messed up, there's a good chance the correction will be botched, too. The books looked fine and I checked every last one but when i went to pay, they charged me for the fifth "free" one. After much cash register rewriting attempts, a manager was called over and he tried to right it. Eventually, with a line forming behind me and me feeling teh evil eye of every other customer, they rang it up. And it turned out to be thirty dollars LESS than it should have been. I think they were trying to get rid of me! I need to get a few more printed next week. We'll see what happens!

Firewood Unlimited

Bob and I have an additional chore, besides getting hay, making art, doing laundry, taking care of the garden, etc etc etc. We go to secure our heating supply for the winter, otherwise known as "doing firewood". That huge tree, above is the source of this winter's heat.
Our gracious friend Tina has offered us all the wood from trees that have fallen on her property in Bridgewater. The soil is stony and there is a lot of ledge, so trees tend to topple over and leave these weird root monsters:

That's the underside of the above tree. (See all the rocks to the left? Not much soil for those roots to grasp onto.) I walk around scouting and musing while Bob cuts up the branches. (And try not to worry as it's dangerous work. Those sideways limbs are way overhead and sometimes crack and split in unintended ways. I'm always relieved when the branches are felled and the wood is safely on the ground.)
That's also where I come in: I help Bob pick up the cut logs and load them onto the truck. This is probably why Bob and I are in pretty okay shape physically. We spend so much time hauling things like hay bales and wood and compost around. Who needs a gym?
Here's another uprooted tree. There are so many of them!

There is enough downed trees for several years worth of fire wood. And it's way less dangerous than felling an entire tree, so I'm glad of that. If you've never been in the are when a large tree hits the ground, you have no idea how traumatic it can be. They really fall hard. But even in a downed tree, there's spring and tension in the weight of the limbs and it's not easy work. Bob loves it and has been doing firewood since his teens but it still makes me a bit nervous... But it's good exercise and way cheaper than buying gas or oil from some corporation that exploits people for living in a cold environment! And besides, the field looks so much better cleaned up when these fallen trees are cleared.

A Very Odd Posting! (for Hope)

Well! Seeing as how my attempts to email pictures of my mathematical collages has failed miserably and very mysteriously, I have concocted this scheme. I will use a blog post to exhibit a few of my images for Math 4 Artists, one of my artist's books with profound educational overtones! those of you tired of my work and sure that you have seen enough are dismissed until next posting! Those of you named Hope who have been kind enough to express interest... look here!

Here is my multiplication table. I was never any good at multiplying: all that carrying imaginary numbers from place to place. And they say artists are crazy! We were told that if you multiply a negative number by a negative number you get a ... positive number? Don't get me started.
Anyway, the above collaged multiplication table is much easier on the eyes than the grim inevitably black and white pseudo- Soviet looking math tables we were forced to memorize.

And this is (very small!) my Periodic Table of the Elements. Again, how much more fascinating is this? I cut out innumerable tiny numbers and letters but made the table exciting and beautiful! Which it is, when you consider how much information is crammed into that nifty format. I've always been totally in love with the Periodic Table and have actually done several versions. One of which is large (like 3 feet high and 5 feet wide- perfect for installing on a classroom wall!

And speaking of the number five, here's one of my individual number interpretations:

I picked five but I've done them all- even a table of Prime Numbers. So, I hope you could view these. Any questions? There will be a quiz tomorrow!

Equine Update

This is weird! i thought I had published this days ago! But it was in my drafts folder...

My horse doing yoga! It is pretty incredible that an animal the size of Maggie can simply lift her hind leg up, swing it around and scratch her ear (like she's doing in the photo). And with a hoof! You'd think they'd accidentally kick themselves in the face, or give themselves black eyes.
Here's another odd Maggie thing- she dreams. I mean, I figure that most animals do, as they sleep and do most everything else we do, so why not dream. But I've never SEEN a horse dream (like the dog; twitching and yelping) until last week. And horses don't actually sleep that much.
Bob and I were going to the store so I walked out into the pasture to make sure Maggie was secured. (Sometimes she's out in her temporary pastures.) Anyway, she was lying down but her chin was resting on the ground. And then her lips started to move and sort of bite at the ground. And here ears started to swivel all around and independently of each other. I thought, "Either she's asleep and dreaming or she's dying." So I stood there, where she could see my plainly if she woke up or came back from the dead and waited. This peculiar REM state continued for a few minutes. I was really starting to worry when her eyes opened, she looked at me like, "Oh hello!" and then she rolled vigorously around on her back and finally hoisted herself up and shook herself off. She looked very relaxed and well rested. But it was weird.
Hey, what I don't know about horses could fill several very long blog postings and it wouldn't be that interesting. Suffice it to say that between my admitting to giant blank spots in equine knowledge and residual fears about evil horsey activity*, thanks to Crispin (whom I hope is now residing in a can of dog food) I decided that what this middle aged equestrienne needed was some remedial lessons. And it's doing me a world of good! It's crazy as so many people say things like, "Why do you need lessons? Don't you already know how to ride?" But as my sage sister Beatrice observed, it's like dance and you can always learn something new. And it's been at least six or seven years since I had lessons.
So I have been riding a much larger, stouter horse than Maggie (Hannah by name, a red Hanoverian/Morgan cross) and consequently, my upper/inner thighs are killing me. I feel like I've been drawn and quartered, and I'm walking like a cowboy. This is also an interesting fact to point out to cynics who insist that riding must be good exercise for the horse, implying that the rider does nothing but sit there. Ha! Let me be the first to assure those skeptics that riding is incredibly physical. Your weight is one of your "aids" while riding; subtle shifts in balance tell the horse where to go. Not to mention posture and the alignment of shoulders and legs are constantly in use. But it is giving me new confidence and a happier attitude.I rode Maggie this afternoon as it didn't rain after all, and enjoyed myself immensely.

Not the most flattering picture of Maggie, but it shows her skepticism. I think she likes me, but secretly thinks I'm a wimp. I am. But I do like my little Magster!

* like bucking and spooking and bolting. All kinds of horsey fun!

Odd Sightings

Is it only me? Or do other people constantly come across such weird stuff? The above picture is in the hollow of a large tree on the side of the road where I walk with Jules every morning. I happened to have my camera with me as I was photographing the stupid garbage (like sofas and building materials) that nasty people dump on the dirt road and I remembered that there was this mini installation in the tree. Fortunately, it was still there, left by aliens, or small children (pretty much the same thing). But what are the chances that I'm standing contemplating the universe as my dog pees, and I look to the left and there they are. Sort of like the "fuck tree". Anyone remember that?
Anyway, I come home and have to realize that maybe that isn't such an odd vision, as Bob left okra in candlesticks on the mantle and maybe that's kind of strange, too.

I agree that they look like candles (and had become too large to eat). And here's another one, while we're at it:

That's a radish straight from the garden, that must have grown around some other root or a rock. It resembles Zippy the Pinhead's girl friend posing for Edward Weston or something! I guess vegetables have a sense of humor, too.

A Tease and a Discussion of Art Making

This is where I have been spending what feels like nearly every waking minute (that I'm not at job/work.) I have been a very dedicated studio artist, doing what seems like a year's worth of collage and art making compressed into three or four months. But this book project is almost done and it gives me a moment to reflect on the process...
It is very interesting to see the difference in my own working habits when they're linked to a specific show, and a funding source. Typically, I do a bunch of pieces and I have total control. If I get bored or an idea runs into a wall and I no longer am compelled by it, I can abandon it or put it down temporarily. In a case like this one, where I have actually received working money up front, I am expected/required to provide a finished project. Very different!
I am fortunate that the ideas I've been exploring have come fast and furious and my interest has been sustained because I'd be in deep shit if I hadn't wanted to complete the project. I am assuming this does indeed happen. I can imagine having "the well run dry" half way into something, and thinking, "What a waste of time! How on earth am I going to finish this mess!" Like I say, I'm lucky that hasn't happened, but I will allow that I am tired of working so exclusively on one piece and I am very glad to be almost done.

So here's the book, Better Guns and Gardens, spread out over my auxiliary table. That's a tease, alright as I don't think you can see too much at this small a scale except that, yes, it does exist! All I have left to do is finish editing one "article" and finish up my "outro" (what I like to call my conclusion, being the opposite of an "intro"). Parts of it are pretty funny and I'm assuming parts of it aren't, because it's hard to be consistently funny. But lord knows I tried and in general, I am very happy with it. I have a roughly mocked up edition that I keep jiggling; I need to get the order of the pages just right. But the end is nigh!
Again, the freedom afforded me if I do work simply to please myself is great but as I make a lot of work, I don't often get to exhibit/show all of what I do. Much of it lingers in squalid oblivion in a drawer of my flat file and only gets viewed by the occasional fortunate friend. Even the grants I have received in the past didn't stipulate a particular body of work or "themed exercise"; this has been different.
I'm not attempting to draw hard conclusions here about whether one experience is "better" than the other. Really, I'm just reflecting on two different modes of working. I think, ultimately, I'd love to be able to be in my studio full time and not have to interrupt my studio work with the necessity of making a living. I've been luckier than some artists. I can honestly say I've made part of my income form my art! And I can't wait until I get installment #2 from this project so that I can buy Bob and I a new computer...
And oh boy! I have another project for the show in NYC to finish. Guess I know what I'll be doing until January!

'Round the House

I may be (too) busy with art deadlines and am neglecting household arts (like cleaning or painting baseboards) but Bob has been busy making nice with the fireplace. Look at that! We now have a respectable replacement for the hole that was variously covered with plastic, plywood, insulation boards, a flat file cabinet and simple exposed 2x4's and wood siding. But then Bob made good on his promise to finish off the fireplace with cement and he even made feet for the boards that were chopped off at half mast:

Very Temple of Dendar, indeed! And it came in handy as we had friends for our Tuesday Night Pizza occurrence and we actually had the first fire of the season. (Oh say it isn't so! First day of Fall next week...)
We do (obviously) have several other things to attend to like the sundry dry wall holes that occupy the living room and beyond:

Holes? Did some one say holes? Here's a delightful closeup:

Look at the depth, the complexity of that hole. It was hidden behind the sheet rock that I had up when I used that wall for drawing on. I could spend too much brain space wondering how it got there in the first place!
On a cheerier note, we really do have a dining table, completed by the same old hodge podge chairs and the addition of Mid-century modern ones from Bob's mother's house.

And say! what's that displayed on the dining table? No, not the attractive zinnias in outrageous colors, compliments of the cut flower garden but that book, cutting a rakish diagonal? Yes, that's a mock-up of my almost completed book, "Better Guns and Gardens". hate to say it, but I'll be glad when it's done! I've devoted so much time and energy that I'm beat!! But the end is in sight! I will have a life again...

Busy... Just Friggin' Busy

Doesn't this look just like a lunar lander? It's actually a very cool little sculpture that our artist friend Bob Parker made for Bob and I as a house warming present several years ago. Somehow, he took a light bulb and painted it- after it was busted I guess! It's on nails as legs and typically resides on the mantle. However,  Bob was making bread one morning and the way his fingers had raked the flour on the counter made it look all textural and like moon dust. Anyway, I'm inserting this picture because it was funny and I've really had absolutely no time to do anything... except work
And that's work as in job where we've been super busy getting ready for another very large auction (and still down to one photographer and a woman who typically works in the office who's been pressed into duty taking pictures. She's doing a swell job, but protests that she doesn't enjoy it).
And more saliently, getting ready for two (major, we hope!) shows is fun but exhausting and really is taking every minute I have. I still keep marveling that people actually do things like go shopping or on field trips! Me? I have forgotten how to do anything except put nose to grind stone in the studio. But let's face it! I now have a wonderful studio to spend my time in!
Bob and I are finally going in to Bushwick- a part of New York neither one of us knows. It's a section of Brooklyn that's become full of artists and is very trendy and I'm certainly glad to be showing there. But as luck would have it, it's supposed to rain (no!) but at least it's not 100 degrees like last week when I had poison ivy on an epic level. Let's share the photo I put up on Facebook, to general gasps of dismay and revulsion.

That wasn't even the poison ivy at it's worst! I looked like a leper. It spread to my other (left) hand and I had a few gratuitous bumps on my leg and beyond. Not fun! But except for general atrocious scabiness, I'm sort of over it...
This really is a far flung blog posting, subject wise! Not too much to report except to restate how busy I've been. I'd love to be finishing up planting some things in the garden, or musing over my next project, but I'm in the middle of TWO projects and on deadlines. Enough of that rant... I'll keep you posted.

Welcome to Gallerie Kenmore

Perhaps you have not heard of Gallerie Kenmore? Perhaps you had no idea that Bob and I have been running a high end gallery? Well, then it is about time that you made the acquaintance of... Gallerie Kenmore!
Our gallery was started, how shall we say? On a whim. A fancy; in a sly mood on a sultry day, Bob and I turned to one another and with  truly wicked glints in our respective eyes and proclaimed: "Gallerie Kenmore! It is a new beginning!" (Whew! What a sentence! Purple prose indeed). We saw a need and
filled it.
Any artist knows that there are far fewer galleries than artists; artists are a dime a dozen. But galleries? If they opened a new one every ten seconds for the next one hundred years, there would still not be enough galleries for all the artists desirous of showing.
But don't get me wrong; Gallerie Kenmore has been from its inception, an extremely exclusive enterprise. We are so exclusive that we don't even have a phone number. Don't try and call us- just don't. Web site? Never! And our address is privileged to be offered to the few who really need to know. If we wish to connect with you, we will. Otherwise, please do not waste your time. Or ours.

Here is a close up of the current show. A photograph by the one and only Richmond Jones. It is a magnificent picture, worthy of display at our gallery. And below is a photo of Bob and I, making a guest appearance at gallery Kenmore. We do drop by to ensure that things are humming along smoothly, but do not try to pin us down as to our hours. Heavens. We never know from one moment to the next where we will be... perhaps Basel? Perhaps Miami? I grow weary keeping it all straight. This is what comes of accepting the mantle of "International Art Dealers". It is a glamorous life, yes, but exhausting.

So, I have allowed you a glimpse into the sanctified realm of the elite art world. I shall keep you posted as to the roster of international art stars that will grace the walls of Gallerie Kenmore. There is a rumor circulating that the illustrious Lena shall be shown at Gallerie Kenmore. I will say no more! Stay tuned!

Bridges to No Where

Next year is already chock-a-block with interesting possible projects and plans. Like our two bridges that cross the stream at the bottom of our property. At present, they are "constructed" of two aluminum ladders with planks on them; serviceable, yes, but hardly interesting or (dare I use the word?) artistic.
They could be so cool! Bob and I are toying with various ideas like rock pilings and then metal understructure with cement covering it... or maybe wood. Don't know but it'll be fun!

This is the second location, a bit further upstream. Actually, they aren't really bridges to nowhere (unless some one wants to fund us!) They do a lovely job of delivering us from one shore to the next. At this time of year, the stream is so low that we could probably safely walk across from rock to rock, that that certainly wouldn't be stylish!

Here's a closer view of the second bridge. isn't that Lobelia next to the bridge lovely? There are loads of wild flower varieties growing nearby! It's a wonderful environment. And will only be lovelier still if we commit to another idea that's hatching...

What's this?!!? A new batch of busted plates! I just started saving more plates because Bob and I had a great idea to make another walkway of mosaic- but on the other side of the stream! It would be narrow and sort of informal and windy and lead from one bridge to the next. Wouldn't that be cool!?!?!? We could cover the whole world in mosaic! WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWhhhhheeeeeeeee!!!!!